Saturday, May 10, 2008

Iconic NYC Neighborhood Market a Dying Breed

Casualties of the global food crisis at home:

A continuing decline in the number of neighborhood supermarkets has made it harder for millions of New Yorkers to find fresh and affordable food within walking distance of their homes, according to a recent city study. The dearth of nearby supermarkets is most severe in minority and poor neighborhoods already beset by obesity, diabetes and heart disease ....

In some cases, the old storefronts have been converted to drug stores that stand to make money coming and going — first selling processed foods and sodas, then selling medicines for illnesses that could have been prevented by a better diet.

I can't even imagine New York without groceries in walkable neighborhoods.

1 comment:

  1. I would not call this a direct result of the global food crisis. Indeed, the businesses that push these small operations out are capable of paying a much higher rate for leasing or buying the property itself. You can also blame the local government too for blindly encouraging a shiny new drug store in lieu of a crusty old grocery store in the spirit of 'growth and progress'.
    This has been discussed in Nashville a lot too. This is called a "Food Desert"

    http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080402/MICRO020601/804020339

    http://www.foodsecuritypartners.org/FSP_Home.php

    The common euphemism I use for Walgreens, etc is that "They sell you the cause and the cure"

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